Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr today offered some of the strongest hints yet that prized works at the Detroit Institute of Arts are on the table as a way to reduce the city’s debts, but he didn’t go into detail on what methods that might involve.

Orr told a Detroit Economic Club luncheon this afternoon that there are ways for the museum to make money from its assets that may not involve outright sales, including what amounts to long-term leases of art the museum owns. While no plans are set in stone, Orr made it clear he has no choice but to consider ways to leverage the museum’s assets.

He said he has directed the DIA’s leaders to consider ways to do that.

“I’m deferring to them to save themselves, but if they don’t, I’ll take them up,” Orr told the audience of business, civic and community leaders gathered at MotorCity Casino.

Orr said the manner in which Detroit eventually will emerge from the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history will have to factor in the needs of creditors, retirees and 700,000 Detroiters who are not receiving the level of services they need.

“It’s got to be a balance,” Orr said, using the frank notion of a retiree having to choose between buying a can of tuna or a can of cat food versus the needs of preserving a world-class museum.

But as for specific proposals to leverage DIA art, Orr said, “I don’t have a plan. There’s no plan to take the bricks out from the Diego Rivera.” He was referring to the Detroit Industry murals the famed Mexican artist painted at the museum.

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Orr’s DIA remarks were among the highlights of his appearance today. He also deflected critical questions about how much the city is spending on lawyers and consultants, saying the $62 million in contracts approved so far for bankruptcy and restructuring consultants — a total the Free Press disclosed on Sunday — is necessary.

He noted that Detroit faces up to $5.7 billion in unfunded retiree health care obligations. He is embroiled in a struggle with city unions and pensioners over the fate of the city’s two pension systems, which he says are underfunded by $3.5 billion. Pension board members and union officials bitterly dispute the figure and are fighting in court to prevent cuts in pension benefits to Detroit’s 23,500 retirees.

“If we’re going to do something about it, we’ve got to pay the best people we can to do the job that needs to be done,” Orr said of the contracts so far for lawyers and consultants.

Orr also urged Detroiters to stand up against voices of division and opposition, saying most residents understand that Detroit cannot continue as it has and that wrenching changes are necessary to ensure a better future.

“This is the moment,” Orr said. “We have the opportunity to reset the table for our future.”

Protesters outside the casino chanted “Hey hey, ho ho, Jones Day has got to go,” referring to the law firm serving as the city’s lead bankruptcy counsel and the firm from which Orr resigned as a partner to become emergency manager in March.